Gwacheon Korean restaurant for birthday seaweed soup: Haenon Miyeok

When you think of miyeokguk (seaweed soup), most people probably think of birthdays. I thought the same thing at first. So I never thought of paying to eat seaweed soup out. But after visiting Haenon Miyeok, that idea changed dramatically.

Location and parking at Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch

The address is 67 Araetbaeraengi-ro, 1F, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, and the hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is over in the Munwon-dong area of Gwacheon. There is also a large parking lot in front, so parking did not seem like a major problem for a family visit.

There are this many kinds of seaweed soup?

We ordered the basic beef seaweed soup set meal. Whenever I visit a place for the first time, I like to try the basics. If the basic dish is good, the other dishes will be good too—that is what I think. But they had such a wide variety of seaweed soups besides that.

• Tongyeong oyster seaweed soup
• Dried pollack seaweed soup
• Mussel seaweed soup
• Sea urchin roe seaweed soup

They also have extra dishes such as beef bulgogi, spicy stir-fried pork, and spicy seasoned flounder, which would be great alongside the seaweed soup. But I had looked it up beforehand, and the soup portions are large enough that two people might be too full to finish if they add more dishes. If you are planning a family gathering, though, it could be even nicer to order some things to share.

The restaurant really felt like walking into a gallery. There were displays related to seaweed soup, so it was very nice to look around while waiting for the food.

The seaweed soup is cooked directly over a flame and served in a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot). While you wait after ordering, have a read.

This is not the seaweed soup I had in mind?

These are the side dishes that come with the meal: salad, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), flounder, and six side dishes in all. Just seeing this, I automatically thought the meal was very well put together.

And you can refill the rice anytime. For free, of course. Some people may feel that the first serving is small, but it was enough for me. If it is not enough for you, though, just get a refill whenever you like.

And finally, the seaweed soup arrived. It was truly bubbling away in the ttukbaegi, and the aroma was so rich. You can probably get a sense of just how hot it was from the video... Maybe that is why it tasted incredibly deep and rich.

The seaweed soup I knew was a fake.!!

Looking at the seaweed, it felt like there was no way it could possibly taste bad. And because it was beef seaweed soup—of course, there was beef too!!

Because there was so much of it, I tried the seaweed first. Oh? What is this? It was on a completely different level from the seaweed I had eaten at home before: deep in flavor, with such a strong seaweed presence. So I loved it.

After fishing out and eating some of the seaweed, I started mixing rice into the soup. Soup tastes best with rice mixed into it, right? Looking around, I saw that the portions were so large that people later asked for containers and packed up their leftover seaweed soup. If you have soup left over, it seems you can get a container and portion it out to take home. That is how generous the serving was.

Refill any side dishes you need yourself~

The self-service bar has the six side dishes served with the meal. If you need more, you can help yourself here.

I refilled the side dishes too because they were so good. Personally, I have really been liking places that offer extra side dishes in this self-service format lately. Rather than asking for side-dish refills during a busy time, I can comfortably eat as much as I want, so I prefer places like this these days.

My personal thoughts

The new thing I realized was that seaweed soup is worth paying to eat out. Especially if someone in your family has a birthday, I thought it would be nice to have a family gathering here with a seaweed soup that is a little more special than the usual kind.

I am planning to bring my parents here for their birthdays next time. My mom especially likes sea urchin roe seaweed soup, so I want to treat her to it on her birthday. Another satisfying meal today, really.